There is no “family”—there are only families.
That’s the resounding and uplifting message from the six families that you see here, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, herself the mother of three daughters, having the first at the age of 52 with the late Susan Sontag. Her images are a celebration of all the ways we can now make our own family—irrespective of gender and sexual orientation and including surrogacy, co-parenting, and the blending of relationships old and new into one loving household. And while the starting point for this story might have been a fashion world baby boom (with Naomi Campbell, Anthony Vaccarello, Joseph Altuzarra, and Peter Dundas all becoming parents recently), the reality is that the right to
define your family on your terms is, like love, utterly universal.
Christiana Tien Tran and Katrin Wesolowski
Christiana Tien Tran and Katrin Wesolowski have plenty in common, both career-wise and love-wise: Both women work as talent agents in the fashion industry, and they’ve built a beautiful home in New York with their three children (twins Wolf Ahn and Leo Ai Wesolowski, 5; and Luma Linh Wesolowski, 1) over the last few years (see previous spread). Still, the changes brought on by the pandemic hit both moms hard, though they ultimately saw it as an opportunity to redefine their at-home bond. “My previous work life didn’t allow me to be with my family as much as I’d like,” says Tran, “and with everything that has shifted since, I was gifted the tremendous silver lining of getting to be present with my family and create a new reality with them that included seeing more of me.”
This boisterous family of five now prizes the time they’re able to spend counterbalancing their busy careers by being together outdoors near their Connecticut home. “It really feels like nature called us here,” says Wesolowski. “The time that we spend together around a fire or at the lake or seeding our veggie garden and going on hikes teaches us reverence for ourselves and for each other and for our planet. That’s important not only for us, but for our children—to see ourselves as part of a much greater picture.”—Emma Specter
Hervé Cosmao, Cécile Durieux, and Jack Borkett
Two years ago, Hervé Cosmao found himself in Business Premier on Eurostar with a glass of Champagne an hour after he’d woken up to 45 missed calls alerting him that Cécile Durieux was about to give birth to their son in Paris. Once Cosmao was on-site, the hospital staff asked if he would like to dress the newborn—and warned that the process can be a little complicated. “I’ve done Marion Cotillard for the Oscars,” Cosmao said, laughing. “I think I can handle this.”
Never mind that the two weren’t married—Cosmao was enjoying what was then a fledgling romance with Jack Borkett, a contributing fashion editor at British Vogue. But in 2018, Durieux, now 41, had mentioned to Cosmao, now 36, at a party (he’s a communications director at Paco Rabanne, she the head of corporate press and partnerships at Louis Vuitton) that she had frozen her eggs, having just exited a toxic relationship; Cosmao replied that he’d always longed for children—and thus began the unconventional but loving family the duo have created for their son, Milo.
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